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Photo by Alessio Corradini, on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, of two locals

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Alessio Corradini,
on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia,
of two locals



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  #1  
Old 12 Sep 2008
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New Purchase - 98 kle500
I have just picked up my kle500 yesterday evening. Had nice drive home and only complaint was that the enduro lid let all rain in and got pelted with rain on way home as forgot my face mask.

Bike is bit vibey compared to the bros and not as sweet sounding but then again you are comparing a sports style bike to a dual sport rough and ready bike, bit like sports car v 4x4. it is very easy throw around the twisty roads and feel lot more comfortable and confident on this than did on the bros when going far around corners.

The bike is nice and light but only complaint is the brakes are as useful as putting your feet down and praying so a new disk up front and braided lines should help this. the fairing need good tighten up as the rattle a bit when accelerating and high winds but hey it is few years old and that’s easy fix.

Built seems to be good but the only downside is the switches seem be cheap crappy ones and buttons are small and hard find when driving, may get a set old Honda switches and re wire these in as they are much nice to use that the current ones.

So for my new perchance the following will be required in new few weeks and months.

New bars,

Centre stand,

Heated grips,

Braided cables and upgraded front disk,

And whatever I can find that I don’t need.

I will post up some pics at the weekend when I get a chance but for now here me bike at the local shop.

Kawasaki KLE 500 from Two Wheels R Us Ltd Royal Oak rd , Bagnalstown Carlow : Used Car for Sale from cbg.ie=
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Old 12 Sep 2008
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Glad your sorted mate.

Theres always been an issue with the brakes, I think its the fork dive that gives the impression that the brakes are crap.

Put 10-20 psi in the forks and combined with new disc/pads/braided line should make it feel a lot better.

Comming from a fireblade to the KLE, I was the same...what the F...!!! when I pulled the brake leaver. But now I dont have any problems with them coz I know what to expect.

Motorcycle Parts and Accessories, United Kingdom and Worldwide, Motorcycle Road and Race Ltd

for all your bits!!!


Good luck
regards
Roy
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Old 12 Sep 2008
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ya i was browsing around on that site and found few bits i want to get, are the brake disks much good though?

any guides to setting up the forks proper so i dont make balls fo it
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Old 12 Sep 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by royzx7r View Post
Put 10-20 psi in the forks

Would you use a regular foot pump with a pressure gauge for that?

I tried to stiffen up the rear suspension yesterday using a hammer and screwdriver like you suggested on another thread. I clobbered the hell out of it but couldn't get it to budge. I gave the shock a blast of WD40 but to be honest it's a quite a new bike and the shock looks fine. Is there any knack to that, or is it just brute force?
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Old 12 Sep 2008
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not actualy removed the caps on the top of the forks, are they just air inlets?
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Old 12 Sep 2008
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TommyT



I just used a bicycle pump and a digi air guage to adjust the fork pressure, the valves are just the normal car type.

I cant say the new disc and pads made a huge difference but they are better then before. Ive still got to install my braided brake line which I hope will finish the job off.

As for the shock, I got upto the next to last notch using a honda shock adjuster I had with my fireblade but there was not enough movement to get onto the highest setting.

I just used a flat head screw driver covered at the end with a cloth and knocked it into place. I cant remember it being to hard to move, make sure you have a good contact from the head of the screw driver onto the notch on the shock. It does take a good thump.

If your unsure, call into your local bike shop.. im sure they will lend you the correct tool to do it.

regards
Roy
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Old 15 Sep 2008
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might give it a try later this week when i get few mins clear weather to un cover it. is the a max min limit to the pressure for the forks as dont want to over do it either?
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Old 15 Sep 2008
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Tommy just checked tyres there to make sure, they arepirelli scorpions on the kle
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Old 15 Sep 2008
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I thought the front brakes wre crap until I put new pads on – now they are completely non-existant! I'd be interested to hear if braided hoses make a significant difference.

I put 12 psi in my forks and they are way better. A standard foot pump worked fine.
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Old 15 Sep 2008
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TommyT

New brake pads need to bed in before they work at there best
also are they standard or sintered
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Old 16 Sep 2008
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good hear the added pressure works well, is there any risk of damaging seals though with having a much higher pressure on the forks?

pads seem be ok so i will check the pressure this week and get it sorted
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Old 16 Sep 2008
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Originally Posted by ShaunJ View Post
TommyT

New brake pads need to bed in before they work at there best
also are they standard or sintered

Yeah they're sintered, and I've put about 500 miles on them. I'm wondering if I could have installed them wrong, though I don't see how that would be possible. They tend to squeal a bit under hard braking (which would be normal braking on any other bike). I bled them a bit too so there's no air in the lines.
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Old 16 Sep 2008
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good hear the added pressure works well, is there any risk of damaging seals though with having a much higher pressure on the forks?

pads seem be ok so i will check the pressure this week and get it sorted
Presumably more psi in the forks is going to put more pressure on the seals, so you'd expect the seals would wear out quicker than normal.

Then again, you'd think the load on the forks will be roughly the same with or without the extra psi.

But if you think about it even more, any psi in the forks means there will be pressure on the seals all the time, even when your not riding it, which should mean they'd wear out quicker.

To summarise – yeah but no but yeah but…

I'll get me coat
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Old 16 Sep 2008
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going around in circles i think. then again seals are cheap fix, braking hard and hearly getting flung out the handle bars like i near;y did at weekend is that little bit more costly and time consuming
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Old 16 Sep 2008
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TommyT

mine felt the same as yours at first, changed pads and disc(ebc HH) they squeeled like pigs for a good while but have settled down ok now and feel better then before.

Ive put about 500miles on mine now since the change and I still need to fit my stainless brake line.

I think the combination of new brakes and air in the forks make a difference but its never gonna stop like an R1.

I test rode a bmw 650gs and I thought the brakes were poor on that also and it has more power!.

Guess we have to live with it and adjust our riding to suit.


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Roy
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